How did we get here again?
Hello everyone and welcome to Two Pens & A Passage! First off, thank you for taking a few minutes to look around and get to know us and what we are all about. Our website is new and therefore will be changing a bit as we go, so be sure to check back and let us know what you think!
My intention is to utilize this blog for a few different reasons. First, I’d like to introduce us in an informal tone and tell you where we came from, how we got here, and why what we do matters so much to us. Second, I would like to show you what we have been working on and sometimes show a few projects we may have coming soon. Finally, I would love to give some examples of a few things we have done in the past. Perhaps you will find that you have a similar project in mind! At any rate, if you think Two Pens & A Passage can help you, know that no project is too big or too small. We are passionate about preserving history!
To start, my name is Misty. I spent the majority of my adult so far in a vastly different field…public safety. History, archaeology, and preservation were hobbies of mine since childhood, but my calling was helping people on their worst days. That all changed in 2011 when a catastrophic injury ended that career. While enduring physical therapy and surgery, I began dispatching and found that being behind the microphone simply wasn’t as enjoyable. By then I had met my partner in everything, Robert “Bob” Killion. Bob encouraged me to return to school- a scary prospect in my 40’s- and pursue my passion. So, I did. I completed my bachelor's degree in Anthropology, then went on to graduate school and completed a master’s degree in History and a certificate in Public History. While there, I took a job as the Graduate Assistant for the history department and thoroughly enjoyed it. The experience I gained from that was priceless.
Do you believe in the “butterfly effect?” If you’ve never heard of it, that’s ok. It is a theory that one tiny decision you make on a random Tuesday can set in motion a chain reaction of events far down the line. Well, I believe it. At the beginning of my second semester of graduate school, I dropped by a professor’s office, purely by chance, with a random question. That professor, remembering that my Public History certificate required at least one semester of an internship, asked me if I still lived in Cass County. When I said yes, he called an alumnus of the program, Cass County Judge Travis Ransom. It seemed that Judge Ransom had been looking for a public history intern for some time, but no one had picked the internship due to it being geographically difficult. But it was perfect for me!
Though I was only required to complete one semester, the judge invited me back for another, and I did a third one just for the experience. During that time, I met countless amazing people all over Northeast Texas, attended the Texas Historical Commission’s Real Places conference two years in a row, and completed so many history and preservation projects that I truly have lost count. Judge Ransom introduced me to the award-winning Cass County Historical Commission, and not long after, they not only invited me to join, but honored me with a chair position! The judge began featuring one of my projects, Cass County Pioneers, in his weekly newsletter and it is also printed weekly in the newspaper. That same project has been accepted for publishing by Texas A&M Press as well! All of this (and lots more) happened because of an impromptu visit to a professor’s office on a random Wednesday afternoon.
My job search began before I even graduated, but after graduation, it really kicked into gear. Time and again, I made it to the second and even third interviews but was passed over. I had so much knowledge and experience, and I was ready to get to work doing the things I had learned. It was very disheartening. But everything changed once again in a matter of a few days, and beginning with another impromptu encounter. I stopped by the Atlanta Texas Historical Museum to speak with the director there, Kelsey Knox. Having met her before and working with her indirectly on some other things, I vented my frustration to her, and she suggested that there was a great need in Northeast Texas for the services I wanted to provide. Why not start my own business doing just that? Frankly, that sounded terrifying and impossible. But to Bob, it sounded like a great idea! So, only 24 hours before leaving for the THC Real Places 2026 Conference in Austin, I did it. When I returned from the conference, we hit the ground running, first with a digitization project for the Wildflower Trails, then a few days later, with the Smithsonian Museums on Main Street Spark! Places of Innovation exhibition that is coming to Atlanta, Texas in January 2027. We have done several consultations for possible upcoming jobs with the city of Hughes Springs, Texarkana Texas, Cass County, and a few private business owners.
So, here we are. I own a small business. Bob went from my life partner (and trusty farmhand) to my contract employee. I can’t wait to share what we are working on, as well as other musings. My next blog post will be about the work on the Smithsonian project and hopefully will have an update on a few prospects. In the meantime, remember that history matters. Everyone and everywhere has a story, and it is our job to collect, preserve, and tell those stories!